Ballmer told employees Wednesday he is creating a new “advanced strategy” position and giving the job to Eric Rudder, who has been in charge of Microsoft’s research-and-development operation for a year.

Rudder’s R&D post will be taken over by Harry Shum, who has led engineering for the Bing online-search engine.

The shuffle shows how Ballmer hasn’t stopped molding Microsoft’s executive ranks, strategy and culture even as he plans to step down in coming months. Microsoft this week also announced a major overhaul of a controversial employee-review system, and Ballmer in September struck a deal to buy Nokia’s mobile-phone business.

In an email to employees, Ballmer was vague about what Rudder will do in the new post of executive vice president of advanced strategy, saying the company needs “a senior leader is accountable for certain key, cross company technology initiatives.”